“Murders On The Yangtze River” – Every Case Ranked

I seem to be on a hot streak of Ace Attorney-adjacent games at the moment – at first it was “Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane” which had a magical focus, and now “Murders On The Yangtze River” gave a historical Chinese spin on the genre.

Time will tell which of the two I prefer, but I can say with certainty that “Murders On The Yangtze River” blew me away across all six inter-connected cases. How would I rank them all?

Oh, and I’d be wary of SPOILERS if I were you – I’ll try to keep the biggest reveals under wraps, but I’d still highly recommend checking the game out for yourself just in case I accidentally give away a big plot point.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Good

6 – Unexpected Misfortune (Case 1)

Every time I play an Ace Attorney game, fangame or AA-inspired game there’s a distinct pattern – the first chapter or case is usually the worst.

That being said, “Unexpected Misfortune” was still a good start. The locked room mystery is really clever, and I was immediately on board with the simple yet effective gameplay and art style.

I thought the characters themselves were a little boring, however, and it would be another case or two before detective Shen and his assistant Afu started getting truly interesting.

Great

5 – Lady in the Wardrobe (Case 2)

“Lady in the Wardrobe” follows on immediately from the first case, and I was impressed by how many connecting factors there were between the two cases.

There’s some really clever logic when it comes to room heat and the autopsy report, and the culprit took me by surprise.

4 – The Confined Room Mystery (Case 5)

“Murders On The Yangtze River” has a furious pace that only gets more break-neck as the cases go on, but as a result the fifth case “The Confined Room Mystery” felt like a slight step back.

The dream chase sequence was really weird, and the fact you only half-solved the crime was a bit anticlimactic … but that did mean all the best moments and reveals could be saved for the final case.

3 – The Haunted Furnace (Case 3)

Case 3 of the game opens to a flashback of Shen investigating his brother’s murder in London three years prior, and it was at this point that I was finally hooked on the game’s narrative.

Once “The Haunted Furnace” starts properly, it becomes one of the best isolated cases in the game. I love the parallels between this “suicide” being proven to be murder and Shen’s brother’s “suicide”, and the culprit was the most fleshed-out so far.

Amazing

2 – Mystic Ship in the Mist (Case 4)

If you thought one murder was hard enough to solve on a misty ship, just wait until three dead bodies turn up!

This is just about as classic a whodunnit as you can get, and I really enjoyed seeing the events that originally tied Shen and Afu together.

1 – The Shanghai Enigma (Case 6)

When I tell you “The Shanghai Enigma” ties together everything you’ve just played through in the last five cases, I mean everything.

Not only is every mystery wrapped up in a satisfying bow, but the ending was unbelievably rousing – the kind that reignites your faith in humanity. Now that’s some good writing!

Aaand that’s my list! Sorry I couldn’t be more specific on some of these entries, but I really wanted to leave some of the major plot points unspoiled. If you’re on the fence about getting this game, get it! Do it now! Or, at the very least, read some of my latest blog posts before getting it: